Overview

Battlefield 2142 is primarily a multiplayer shooter that allows the player to battle on foot and in vehicles with up to 63 other gamers in two gameplay types: Titan and Conquest. The conquest mode is very similar to previous Battlefield games with players attempting to attack and defend various control nodes set on large scale maps. Titan mode, the new addition, asks you complete a series of objectives in order to down the other team's floating fortress ship.

With 2142, developer DICE focused more heavily on the leveling and power-up system (where users exchange game experience for new weapons) then they had in the game's predecessor, Battlefield 2, which introduced the leveling concepts. Essentially, players choose one of the four classes: Recon, Assault, Engineer or Support, and gain experience in each class the more they play and destroy the opposing team. Experience can then be exchanged for special abilities for that class only. While giving people a reason to play the game for extended periods, the leveling system continued to annoy new players who were instantly at a disadvantage when loading up the game for the first time.

Game Modes

Conquest

If you've ever played a Battlefield game on the PC or Mac before, you know what this is. Capture more control points on the map before the other team does to bleed them of resources (tickets). There are three variations on the style.

Assault

Head-On

Assault Lines: The force that causes the opponents tickets to reach zero wins. The defending team's home base cannot be captured until the assaulting team have taken control of all other points on the map.

Titan

The goal of Titan mode- Destroy the reactor core.

Instead of capturing control points that are really just flags, you need to capture missile silos. These silos damage the enemy Titan's shields. The Titan is a flying fortress carrying air support vehicles and has several Titan guns for ground support. Once the shields are down, the opposing team can enter the Titan and destroy it. To do so, they need to blow up 4 consoles, then the 'Core' of the Titan. They then have about 30 seconds to escape the Titan as it blows up. The first half, the capture the silos half, plays a lot like traditional Conquest mode. A big part of strategy involves both defense of your own Titan and capturing silos to ensure the enemy Titan becomes vulnerable. An undefended Titan can be destroyed quickly by a good squad.

Maps

There are 16 official maps in the game, including 3 that came with the Northern Strike Booster Pack and, and 2 that arrived for free in recent updates. All maps are spread across two theaters: Europe and Africa. The only exception is Wake Island 2142, a community developed map that takes place in the Pacific Theater that was included in an official update from DICE and is an update to a map that that was found in both Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2.

European Theater

Belgrade

Conquest Mode: Head On

Titan Mode: Unavailable

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Cerbere Landing

Conquest Mode: Assault

Titan Mode: Unavailable

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Fall of Berlin

Conquest Mode: Assault

Titan Mode: Unavailable

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Minsk

Conquest Mode: Assault

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Verdun

PAC base in Verdun under attack.

Conquest Mode: Head-On

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Bridge at Remagen (Only available with the Northern Strike Booster Pack)

Conquest Mode: Assault Lines

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: No

Port Bavaria (Only available with the Northern Strike Booster Pack)

Conquest Mode: Assault Lines

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: No

Liberation of Leipzig (Only available with the Northern Strike Booster Pack)

Conquest Mode: Assault Lines

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: No

African Theater

The African theatre; The sun rises of Tampa Highway.

Northern Strike Camp Gibraltar

Conquest Mode: Assault

Titan Mode: Unavailable

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Suez Canal

Conquest Mode: Assault

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Shuhia Taiba

Conquest Mode: Head-On

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Sidi Power Plant

Conquest Mode: Head-On

Titan Mode: Yes

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Tunis Harbor

Conquest Mode: Head-On

Titan Mode: Unavailable

No Vehicle Mode: Yes

Steam Release

According to DICE associate producer Barrie "Bazajaytee" Tingle as of February 25th 2011 DICE has a Steam release in the " waiting" and should be release soon. Hopes for a Steam release were dashed when EA announced their own distribution service, Origin, and removed several of their games from Steam.